Web service management for companies and other large enterprises can be difficult and time-consuming. Often, a company has multiple business units that use web services for certain applications or processes, and the definitions of such web services and the relationships between the web services can be complex and challenging to understand. For example, a single business application or process may rely on a number of different web services across several computing platforms, related in a multi-tiered hierarchy and defined specifically for the application.
As a result, analyzing the run-time web services environment to determine performance metrics without a current and complete understanding of the web services definitions, versions, and relationships can result in incomplete or incorrect data. In addition, if an enterprise wishes to make changes to a particular web service and/or business process that uses web services, it is imperative to be aware of how the web service(s) interrelate with other web services and what resources the web service(s) rely on in order to avoid unforeseen errors and other complications with the run-time environment.